Visualising Darwin 6 Sep 2009 PZ Macrabbit has already mentioned this, but I thought I’d pile on: it’s a Javascript utility that shows you how Darwin edited the six editions of the Origin over the course of his life, by Ben Fry, who lets you download the program Processing (now that’s a name!) for free. Also, the Wellcome Institute has a nice visualisation of the tree of life. A more technical one is here. Oh, and then there’s this: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qabl5eIba2g&hl=en&fs=1&] HT: Dangerous Intersection Evolution History
Evolution More on why Brian Blessed is a monkey 26 Apr 201126 Apr 2011 If this worked, you should see a rather nice, if occasionally naughty language using, discussion of the point I made I little while ago why we should redefine terms like “monkey” to include humans. Sorry John Hawks… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity How is a species like a soup can? 22 Oct 200818 Sep 2017 That is not a riddle, or rather it’s not meant to be, but it’s a question worth asking about the barcoding project. Wired has a nicely written piece about the rationale and program of giving species DNA barcodes and using the gene chosen as the barcode to identify the number… Read More
Evolution Are species theoretical objects? 31 Aug 2007 A lot of people have said something like “species are the units of evolution”. What does this even mean? So far as I can tell, nobody has really fleshed this out. Read More
The huddled masses you see weeping to themselves outside the Welcome Trust are the mycologists and botanists, who are feeling rather ignored. What’s so interesting about these latecomer animals finally dragging themselves onto dry land, eh?